A system and method for playing games, such as card games, over a computer network is described in published PCT application WO 03/093921 A2, published Nov. 13, 2003, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The entire contents of WO 03/093921 A2 are incorporated by reference herein. The system of the '921 PCT publication includes a central gaming server accessible over the Internet and enables participation in games such as poker games by individuals accessing diverse portal websites (gaming websites).
In the last several years, systems have been commercialised such as that described in the '921 patent publication wherein a gaming website provides a facility for online game playing, particularly online poker playing. Such systems have become quite popular and gaming sites may host hundreds, even thousands of players at a time. In online poker, the success of an online poker website (“online poker room”) is directly related to the magnitude of a pool of would-be players who desire to play a game of online poker. Simply put, the larger the pool of players, the more virtual poker tables (i.e. poker games each accommodating a maximum of, say, 10 players) the online poker software can spawn, thereby increasing the overall liquidity of the online poker room and increasing its attractiveness to other would-be players.
In order to maximise this size advantage, some online poker rooms operate under a centralised topology, in which there is a single operating entity (“operator”) that owns and runs the gaming website and the player pool is homogeneous (i.e. all players are registered with, or “belong to”, this single operator). The operator makes its money by charging a proportion (a “rake”) of the collective wagers (“the pot”) of all players participating in each game of poker that is played in the online poker room. Under a centralised topology, a player will always be playing only with other players who are registered with the same (i.e. the only) operator. Settlement of player wagers is straightforward: 1) the operator deducts it's rake from the pot; 2) the balance is paid over to the player that has won the game; and 3) the next game starts and the process repeats.
Other online poker rooms may operate under a distributed topology (also referred to, in the art, as a network topology). Under this topology, the player pool is heterogeneous, as players registered with different operators are pooled together to maximise liquidity of the collective player pool. This means that players registered with different operators could find themselves playing in the same poker game. In this instance, settlement of player wagers is more complex than in the centralised topology as situations invariably arise in which funds have to be transferred, (or “cleared”), between different operators whose players are playing on the poker network involving a multitude of operators. The principles underlying a distributed topology are set forth in the above-referenced patent application WO 03/093921 A2. The present inventive methods apply to both the centralised and distributed topologies.
FIG. 1 is a screenshot from an online poker room home or “lobby” page, showing a prior art arrangement for providing real-time game information to a potential game player. The player accesses the gaming website using a personal computer or other computing device with Internet access. As shown in FIG. 1, the lobby is presented on the user interface of the computing device. The lobby presents a display of eight categories or types of card games that are currently available for play via the website (either under a centralised or a distributed topology). Each game type is associated with a tab:
Tab 2: Omaha—poker games of the Omaha variety;
Tab 3: Omaha Hi/Lo—poker games of the Omaha Hi/Lo variety;
Tab 4: 7 Stud—poker games of the 7-card Stud variety;
Tab 5: 5 Stud—poker games of the 5-card Stud variety;
Tab 6: Private—invitation-only poker games established by players;
Tab 7: Sit & Go—non-scheduled tournaments; and
Tab 1: Hold'em—poker games of the Texas Hold'em variety;
Tab 8: MTT (Multi-Table Tournaments)—scheduled tournaments.
When any of the first five tabbed categories or types is selected, a player is presented with a list of all tables with poker games of that particular variation that are currently active. See FIG. 1, which shows the tables for the Hold'em game (tab 1). Via scroll bar 10 and slider 12, the player can scan the active game instances (virtual tables) in the list. For each active game instance, the following attributes are displayed:                Name of the table (typically, fanciful names to spark player interest, but may also be in the form of a number or index).        Table stakes in the format: Small Blind/Big Blind.        Number of Participating Players/Maximum Number of Players that can be accommodated.        Whether the table is a no limit table, a pot limit table or a fixed limit table.        Average size of pots at that table.        Average number of players who have not yet folded at the flop stage of the game.        Number of players waiting to join the table.        Number of hands played per hour.        
Sit & Go tournaments (tab 7 of FIG. 1) are poker tournaments that have no pre-set start time, and commence when a prescribed number of players required for the tournament have entered the tournament. Sit & Go tournaments can be single-table or multi-table tournaments. When the Sit & Go tabbed category is selected, a player is presented with a list of all Sit & Go tournaments that are either active or are pending. For each Sit & Go tournament in the list, the following attributes are displayed:                A tournament identification code.        A name of the tournament.        A type of poker game played in the tournament.        Whether the tournament is a no limit, pot limit or fixed limit tournament.        The number of seats that are available in the tournament.        The current size of blinds for active tournaments, and the number of players already entered for pending tournaments.        
MTT (tab 8 of FIG. 1) are poker tournaments that have a scheduled start time. Players are required to enter the tournament and to be available to commence play in time for the scheduled start of the tournament. When the MTT tabbed category is selected, a player is presented with a list of all MTT tournaments (same instances) that are either active or are pending. For each MTT tournament in the list, the following attributes are displayed:                A tournament identification code.        A name of the tournament.        A type of poker game played in the tournament.        Buy-in rules.        The number of entrants for the tournament.        A current size of blinds for active tournaments and a scheduled start time for pending tournaments.        
The game of poker is popular and is widely played in many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States of America. A traditional game of poker is a multiplayer game, generally accommodating a minimum of 4 and a maximum of between 8 and 10 players. In a turn of the game, a winner of the game is the player who obtains a highest-ranking poker hand of five cards. For a standard deck of 52 playing cards, the poker hands are, in order of increasing rank: a pair of cards having the same rank (“one pair”); two pairs of cards in which the rank of each pair is different (“two pairs”); three cards each having the same rank (“three of a kind”); a “straight” in which the five cards of a hand are in sequentially increasing rank order, with no restriction on suite; a “flush” in which the five cards are all of the same suite; a “full house” in which three cards are each of the same rank, while the remaining two cards each have another identical rank; “four of a kind” in which four cards of the hand each have the same rank; a “straight flush” in which the five cards are in sequentially ascending rank order and are all of the same suite; and a “Royal Flush” in which the five cards are all of the same suite and are ranked Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10. Where a deck is used that has fewer than 52 cards, the probability of obtaining a full house is greater than the probability of obtaining a flush, making the latter combination of cards more desirable, and therefore of higher rank, than the former.
Poker hands with a ranking of Four of a Kind and Straight Flush are very strong hands and are usually sufficient to win the game. It is possible, though, that a player may obtain such a hand and yet still not win the game, being beaten by another player who holds a higher ranking poker hand. Such an occurrence, in which a very good poker hand loses to an even better one, is termed a “Bad Beat”. For example, a player who has a Four of a Kind with four Kings loses to another player who has a Four of a Kind containing four Aces.
It is customary for poker rooms to offer a jackpot prize that is won upon the occurrence of a Bad Beat. When a Bad Beat event occurs, the losing player of the poker hand is awarded 50% of the jackpot prize, the winner of the poker hand is awarded 25% of the jackpot prize and the remaining 25% of the jackpot prize is distributed equally among the remaining players who participated in the hand. Different poker rooms may have different levels of payouts for Bad Beat jackpots and have different losing hand requirements. For example, bad beat jackpot winners must lose with a hand of Four of a Kind Eights or better in order to qualify for the jackpot or, alternatively, the winners must lose with a hand containing Four of a Kind Jacks or better.
The operator of the poker room provides the Bad Beat jackpot prize. The Bad Beat jackpot prize can be a fixed prize or can be progressive in nature. In the former instance, the fixed prize that is provided by the operator should be of a magnitude sufficient to stimulate player interest. Where the Bad Beat jackpot prize is progressive, the jackpot may be funded by means of a portion of the operator rake on the pot of each game. This method of funding the Bad Beat progressive jackpot prize may cause the jackpot to increase to a size that attracts additional players to participate in the poker game.
Players who desire to be eligible for a Bad Beat jackpot prize, whether progressive or static, must play at dedicated Bad Beat tables or poker games. More particularly, in land-based poker rooms, there is usually one or more dedicated Bad Beat tables at which all players seated at such tables are eligible for the Bad Beat jackpot prize. A disadvantage of such an arrangement is that it lacks flexibility as it is difficult or impossible to establish additional Bad Beat tables during periods of high player demand, whereas in periods of low player demand the dedicated Bad Beat tables may be sparsely populated. In an online environment, a number of virtual poker tables spawned by the online poker software are designated as dedicated Bad Beat tables and all players playing at these dedicated tables automatically play for the Bad Beat the jackpot prize. In this instance, dedicated Bad Beat virtual poker tables may be spawned or collapsed in accordance with the varying player demand, but such decisions usually require manual intervention.
The net result of the situation is that Bad Beat games and players and non-Bad Beat games and players are physically or logically separated in real and virtual poker games, respectively. Further, it is not possible for a player to switch from being eligible for a Bad Beat jackpot prize to not being eligible for the Bad Beat jackpot prize, and vice versa, without changing the real or virtual poker table at which the player is seated.